15,700 Preemies in the U.S. Won't Make It to Their 1st Birthday This Year

And thousands upon thousands more will experience physical and mental challenges that bring heartache and hardship to their families.

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Dec 12, 2015

What happens when a charity is formed with the sole purpose of preventing a terrible disease — and actually achieves its goal? Though nearly unheard of, it's not the stuff of fairy tales, but the real history of March of Dimes, which was founded in 1938 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a bid to end the polio epidemic. The group literally completed its mission 17 years later with the discovery and widespread use of a breakthrough vaccine. But that wasn't the end for the nonprofit. Now March of Dimes has chosen a new (hopefully also achievable) mandate: to do for premature birth, infant mortality, and birth defects what it did for polio in 1955. Recently it vowed to bring the premature birth rate from 9.6% (among the highest in developed nations) to 5.5% by 2030.

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True to March of Dimes' roots as a scientific powerhouse, research is key to the plan: In just the past year, labs it funds have gained insight into factors that can contribute to prematurity, including genetics and the microbiome of the mother. But awareness and education are important to its mission, too — and that's where the 2016 National Ambassador Family, who survived a premature birth experience, comes in. They'll spend the next year on a cross-country tour, with stops at Fox News and the White House, sharing their inspiring story and educating others.

Now 13, Ismael (with his mother) loves acting in school musicals and playing soccer.

Courtesy of Isamari Castrodad

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Isamari and Ismael Castrodad's Story

Ismael Torres-Castrodad of San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a happy, healthy 13-year-old, but when he was born five weeks early, his long-term health was anything but assured. At a routine 35-week appointment, his mother, Isamari Castrodad, found out her amniotic fluid level was more than 60% lower than it should be, which meant her life and the baby's could be in danger. When inducing labor failed, Isamari had no choice but to undergo an emergency cesarean section. Ismael was born weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces. To Isamari's great relief, he was pink and crying, and he was discharged right on schedule.

But all wasn't as well as it seemed. Babies' lungs mature throughout the third trimester, as does their ability to regulate their body temperature. The fact that Ismael was born early increased his risk of health problems. By Ismael's first pediatrician's appointment, there were real consequences.

At 4 days old, he had lost too much weight — he was just 4 1/2 pounds — and had to be readmitted to the hospital for five days of monitoring. Seven months later, he was back with a bad case of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a severe coldlike illness. Soon afterward, he developed chronic asthma, suffering from monthly attacks for several years. As a toddler, he was hospitalized for pneumonia. "He was so small and young, I would have to guess what was happening," remembers Isamari. "I was desperate, watching him fight to breathe."

Fortunately, Ismael's asthma began to diminish at around the time he started grade school, and he now hasn't had an attack in years. Isamari, meanwhile, has turned the trauma of her son's childhood into a force for good, volunteering with her local March of Dimes chapter for the past seven years before becoming a 2016 National Ambassador. Her goal is to inspire pregnant women everywhere to speak up if they suspect that something is wrong. After all, that's what she did when she followed her gut and asked her doctor to check her amniotic fluid at 35 weeks even though it hadn't been planned.

"I wasn't afraid to ask for what I needed," she says. "As my son tells me, 'Because you did what you did, I'm here now.'"

5 Surprising Premature Birth Risk Factors

You may know the biggies: carrying multiples (like twins); a history of uterine and cervix problems; being older than 35 or younger than 17. But here are the lesser-known issues.

1. Not waiting. If you space your pregnancies less than 18 months apart, your body may not yet be ready to carry a baby to full term.

2. Having been a preemie yourself. Women who have a family history of premature birth (their mom, grandma or sister had a premature baby) are at increased risk.

3. Getting pregnant through IVF. Studies show that single babies conceived through IVF are around twice as likely to be born prematurely.

4. Gaining too little during pregnancy. Putting on less weight than your doctor advises is dangerous, even if you're terrified of taking it back off.

5. Exposure to the drug DES. This man-made form of estrogen (technical name: diethylstilbestrol) was prescribed to pregnant women until 1971. If your mother took it (ask her, if you can), you were exposed to it in the womb — and that increases your risk of premature delivery.

This story originally appeared in the January 2016 issue of Good Housekeeping.